Videos on The First Take are filmed in a studio, alternating between medium and close-up shots of only the performing singer and a microphone, set to a background that is usually white. The footage is recorded in 4K resolution with high quality audio.[3] According to creative director Keisuke Shimizu, singers are asked to treat the filming as a live performance,[4]The Japan Times writer Patrick St. Michel notes that The First Take's success demonstrates a shift in musical preferences in the public, suggesting that "slick, manicured pop is out and authenticity — or at least the veneer of authenticity — is in."[5]
History
On November 15, 2019, the channel published its first video featuring "Narratage" by Adieu.[5] On December 6, Lisa's performance of "Gurenge" went viral and gained more views than the song's original music video, and is credited with popularizing the channel.[6] Several recordings on the channel are available digitally; notably, Dish//'s performance of "Neko" peaked at 11th on the Billboard Japan Hot 100[7] and also placed 28th on the Year-End chart.[8] As of August 2024, 549 episodes and almost 300 individuals or groups have appeared on the channel; five videos have more than 100 million views: "Gurenge" by Lisa, "Neko" by Dish//, "Dry Flower" by Yuuri, and "Yoru ni Kakeru", "Gunjō" by Yoasobi.[3]
As a response to a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several videos in 2020 were filmed inside the singer's home/private studio and titled "The Home Take".[4] In June 2020, South Korean boy band Stray Kids performed "Slump" (Japanese version) on the channel, becoming the first foreign and Korean artists to appear, and was the first video to be shot remotely.[9] The group appeared again to perform "Mixtape: Oh" in October 2021, marking the first non-Japanese song to perform on the channel.[10]
In February 2022, singer-songwriter Ai performed her song "Aldebaran", becoming the first solo American artist to appear on the channel.[11] The first American group to appear on the channel was Pentatonix in January 2021.[12] On April 1, the channel published its first recording featuring non-human characters, Sesame Street muppets Elmo, Julia, and Cookie Monster, who performed "Ue o Muite Aruko" with Hinatazaka46 members Shiho Katō, Hinano Kamimura, and Mikuni Takahashi.[13] In June, English singer Harry Styles appeared on the 225th episode, performing "Boyfriends".[14] Styles was one of the few Western artists to appear on the channel.[15] In September 2022, Canadian singer Avril Lavigne performed "Complicated" on the channel.[16] In October 2022, singer-songwriter Sury Su performed her song "Liao (The Phoenix)", becoming the first solo Chinese artist to appear on the channel.[17]
On August 18th, 2024, the channel exceeds 10 million subscribers, becoming the first Japanese music YouTube channel to do so.
Controversy and Fraud Claim
On October 20, 2024, the YouTube channel Wings of Pegasus demonstrated that The First Take had engaged in fraud by using pitch correction in videos, contradicting the channel’s claim that it features unedited performances. ". . .'The First Take' YouTube channel is only talking about filming people. It's not the sound that we're listening to . . ." [19]
List of performances
Key
Indicates performances by non-Japanese artists (including collaboration with Japanese artists)
